I am really enjoying playing the piano but I do feel slightly frustrated because I want to be able to play better, faster.

So, while I progress with these lessons I really want to play a blowy instrument but am not sure what ones to pick.

I don't want brass.
I definitely don't want to learn the basoon.
I can't blow the clarinet.
Not much better with the flute.
I hate the sax.
The oboe interests me but not sure I can cope with a vibrating reed in my mouth.

Does that just leave the recorder then?

Why the sad face?

Recorders are a good instrument to get started on - you can get a decent playing model for not much money at all, there are opportunities to play in large groups from a relatively early stage so it's a very sociable instrument, and there's a lot of interesting repertoire.

Have a read of some of the recorder threads in the woodwind section, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

I don't have anything against the recorder as such and I agree that it is a sociable instrument....but...I just wanted something that I had never played before but no larger than an oboe/clarinet/recorder as I want an instument I can just pick up with little faffing about.

You say you can't blow the clarinet and flute, but how much have you tried? Most people can't blow properly before they have a lesson or two, so maybe you shouldn't base your preference on what you can do now, but what instrument really appeals to you in terms of the sound it makes and the type of repertoire.

Apologies if you have already had several attempts at an instrument - I am just assuming that you haven't!

Also, would you consider strings? Tricky to get going with, but if you want group playing opportunities nothing beats a violin/viola/cello! My biggest disappointment is that I can't play in any local orchestras or wind bands as woodwind sections are constantly full, so after 8 years in London I am yet to meet another musical person

As an aside, you really can't feel the oboe reed vibrating at all. Although I have quite full lips, so have more cushioning than most!

Good luck in your search

I have big lips too Isi! I think I might hire an oboe from the council and have a go then. DS1 has a flute and I can make a sound but it is hard work and DS bassoon teacher let me borrow a clarinet to see if I could play it. I had it for three works and could barely blow a tune. In that time, bassoon boy had taught himself to grade 2+ level on it!

String instruments look impossible but I am not averse to the idea. It would have to be a small one though.

I picked up the clarinet two years ago with no experience of any instrument at all - I think you have to just learn what the right embouchure is for this wonderful instrument and relax - the sound will come.

When I started my teacher asked my to get "Tune a Day" ready for the lesson - I carefully read the instructions on "blowing". And the first time my new teacher asked me to put the mouthpiece to my mouth I got a half decent sound.

Don't try too hard - you can't just get any sound like tapping a piano key but, so long as you understand the technique and give a gentle 'blow' it will make you smile.

Give it another try, it's a lovely instrument.

Chris

What's wrong with brass? The french horn is a lovely soft sound.

I must agree with you about the sax I'm really not keen on the sound. I hated it when my son played alto sax and was so relieved when he changed to horn, although he made the most horrendous noises on that for a while. Tenor sax isn't quite so bad, more mellow, but still far from my favourite sound.

I'm enjoying having a bassoon in the house, but finding it difficult as I have forgotton loads, but still instintively know the fingering for some notes, but not others. It's hard finding things at the right level. I can still pretty much play my grade 3 pieces, but haven't dared look at anything I played after that.

I have tried learning clarinet, and got to the point where I could play grade 1 exam pieces, but then gave up. It seemed like such hard work .
I think if I were starting from scratch I would be tempted by cello or viola.

Ok - just a few words in favour of the flute (my new found love.)

1) It is shiny.
2) It is easy to assemble and clean.
3) It is portable - can fit in my largest handbag or smallest shopping bag.
4) It sounds 'good' quite quickly - the violin (for example) takes months to stop sounding like something that should involve the RSPCA.
5) It does not require additional strings or reeds.
6) Your elder son plays it - he can help you out and wouldn't it be nice for you and he to share something musical? B1 and I are currently teaching ourselves flute and we are really enjoying this new way of spending time together.
7) Did I mention it's shiny?

Have a good look (and listen, of course) at a lot of different instruments - I reckon you'll 'just know' when you find the right one.

I just love points 1, 4 and 7.

You lot are hilarious. Ok I will wait until DS gets back from France in two weeks and snatch his flute!

The flute may be shiny but the oboe is slim, dark and s e x y.

I know it has a reputation of being hard to blow (requiring high pressure) but I found it far easier to get a sound out of than (e.g.) sax. It is actually quite physical though. Contrary to popular belief you won't necessarily make a racket like a dying duck to start with. It is perfectly possible to make a reasonable sound from the start if you pay attention and use your ears. I am quite certain though that it requires a specialist teacher to set you on the right path.

Do bear in mind that winds are not as "automatic" as some people think. It is perfectly possible to play the oboe as sharp or flat as a beginner fiddle player. Also all instruments need lots of work to make reasonable progress. I think I'm probably fairly average. I took up the oboe just over 3 years ago (aged 54), reached Grade 5 in a little over 2 years and I'm intending to take Grade 6 in this year's session 2. A rough estimate of the hours I have put in comes to about 6 hours a week up to Grade 5 and currently 1 to 1.5 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week on average (so maybe 7.5 to 8 hours a week). My personal view is any less than that would make progress too slow to be enjoyable.

Don't expect any change out of ?400-500 for a half decent secondhand student model and considerably more for something good.

I tried out my son's oboe when he started learning, and it took a LOT of puff just to get a sound out of it. But I love playing flute, and since your son already plays, you can try it out without any expenditure.

We bought a second-hand oboe for said son, and it cost almost ?600. That was 10 years ago! When I bought my first flute (a Trevor James student) it cost around ?380.

(The upgrade was a different story, though!)

As I believe you live somewhere in the Cheltenham/Gloucester area I must point out that this is something of a hotbed of recorder playing with lots of good things going on at all levels. I play in an "Easy Recorder Orchestra" that meets mid way between Gloucester and Ross. There is the Cheltenham Recorder Festival every August (at Dean Close), and various active branches of the Society of Recorder Players nearby with good and enthusiastic musical directors.

Although recorder has its own difficulties, one of the things I appreciate about it is that it does not require an enormous amount of effort to get a sound out!!

I would second what others have already said about the oboe.

If you are playing it properly, you can't feel the reed vibrating in your mouth.

It is not an easy instrument to start. It is very easy to play flat and/or sharp (in fact when I started I wondered why on earth they used oboes to tune orchestras ). Your tone might not be as bad as a dying duck but will not sound anything like your favourite oboist. The real issue when you first start is stamina - I could only manage about 10 minutes at a time (and remember feeling a real sense of achievement when I mentioned to play "Jingle Bells" without having to stop in the middle for an extra breath).

However, although it is a slow instrument to start, progress compared to other wind instruments evens out at the intermediate level. (When the flutes and clarinets start slowing down in their learning process the oboes start speeding up).

I'm not trying to put you off because I love my oboe and taking it up was one of the best things I've ever done . But, if you are looking for something that will offer quick progress compared to the piano, I think you're looking at the wrong instrument.

If you're not set on a more "orchestral" instrument, how about the tin whistle? It's extremely portable, doesn't require assembling, easy to learn, very cheap (you can get good ones for ~2-10), and easy to take care of. Plus, if you do happen to damage or lose it, it's very easy to replace. I also found that it helped me learn the flute later.

Just watch out - they have a way of multiplying when you're not looking ...

I tried the flute. Liked it very much until I got into embouchre trouble with an octave higher, for example. Then it got too tough for me. It was a pain in the butt to keep cleaning it out properly but I did like it. Sold it on ebay to a woman who thanked me personally when she got it - never having bought on ebay before and spent a lot of money for a first time purchase and her daughter loved it. I wonder how she got on?!

Have the sax but never got around to playing it. Would like to some day but same pain in the butt cleaning it.

Wanted then to play either the clarinet or violin - edged towards clarinet as I failed miserably at violin but it was a long time ago so "in for a penny, in for a pound" and have recently decided to give the violin another go.

My reasons are this - I also play piano and it is my fondest instrument but wanted something more sociable - strings, probably because there are more of them in an orchestra, are in demand more than wind instruments and I would really like to play in an amateur orchestra. So, violin it is.

Don't knock the recorder though - I started out with this and I used to live between Gloucester and Ross so for the post on where you can play recorder, I wish I had known that before.

My advice is decide what you like the sound of and why you want to play another instrument - may help you decide what to go for. Good luck in your decision making and I hope you really enjoy your new venture, whatever it is you decide to take up.

It's a lovely soft sound when you can play it well, and until you get there it's horrible loud honking burping noises

My justification for saying the above - I used to be a horn player and i know I made some terrible noises the first few years I was learning

Well I did say he started off making some pretty awful noises, but I still maintain they were preferrable to the alto sax.

So you did, I misread that

Personal opinion only - I think horn and oboe are amongst the awfulest sounding instruments *when one can't play them*, I formed this opinion through years of school and university band!

The reason you are having so much trouble deciding is because you accidentally said a 'blowy' instrument instead of 'violin or cello'

Like what Zecic said, if you don't mind playing a non-orchestral instrument then perhaps the harmonica. Or perahps an orchestral instrument to have a look at is the piccolo?

The piccolo isn't advisable until at least some competency has been achieved on a standard concert flute (typically around grade 6 standard). The piccolo places far greater demands on things like embouchure control compared to the flute and it is much better to build the muscles and control required via the flute. Even for more experienced players, it is advisable to warm up thoroughly on the flute before playing piccolo in order to prevent muscle and embouchure fatigue. In orchestral settings it is usual for the 2nd flute to double onto picc, so competency would be required in both instruments for orchestral piccolo playing.

I think you should go and lie down in a darkened room until this feeling passes and then GO PRACTISE THE PIANO!!!!!

Just felt I had to take up the cudgels in defence of the world's most beautiful wind instrument when played well. Agreed, the beginner sax can sound horrible - as can most instruments in the hands of the inexperienced - but it can also sound just as mellow and sweet as a clarinet or a flute. The "lawnmower" sound doesn't have to last forever!

Is this a case of "like mother, like son"?
In which case I suggest the harp